dolly - I am moving to k, any 4 blocks suggestions?
Tenni - dolly, have you read building blocks?
Tina - I teach first in OK. How about you?
Tenni - first in KY
dolly - I have looked at it, plus I have been reading the kdg site here on Tnet. I did 4 blocks in 1st for the last 2 years.
Tenni - any great ideas for writing? I've used many resources including the new writing book, but i can't get depth and voice in their writing
readingteach - dolly, kindergarten musts are TG to Building Blocks and Month by Month for Kindergarten. There is also a predictable charts book we use alot
Tenni - i suggest looking at the new shared reading with big books book too
dolly - I will probably get these before fall. I have been interested in all the things people have posted about using the kids names.
Need2Teach - Hey everyone, this is my first time here...hope to learn a lot from the pros
Tina - Tenni-do your students journal?
Tenni - well, they write everyday and I do a mini-lesson, but they have a really hard time moving beyond three and four sentence stories
amy(K) - hi all - i am new here and will be a first year K teacher...I am interested in learning info about 4 blocks and building blocks
Tina - dolly-one of my favorites is the interviews. My students read those over and over.
Tenni - i would like to create something other than king/queen to do with student names
Need2Teach - Hey Amy, me too
amy(K) - glad to know I am not alone and new to this! lol
dolly - We found in first that we had to work on orally telling stories before they knew how to write a story. We had many who could not move past the 3-4 sentences.
Need2Teach - Can anyone give me advice on how I can teach Guided Reading with no access to multiple book copies
Tenni - need, we've copied things onto transparencies before
readingteach - Making word puzzles with names and putting their names on the word wall to reference for sounds is also great
Tina - Need...I use a great deal of poetry on charts and copies in their poetry notebooks.
amy(K) - need, what grade are you teaching?
Need2Teach - ahh, good idea..we are focusing on Poetry in our summer school
Amy-1st - When you guys publish writing from the block do you have the kids type or do you type?
Need2Teach - First
Tenni - we also got multiple copies by choosing one book a month from the book order and asking parents who were interested to donate
dolly - while you are looking for books, write a morning message to read everyday. I t can have a few mistakes in it to help teach the lesso;n.
Need2Teach - I'm the only guy teacher in the school, so that's interesting
Tina - Why don't you have any multiple copies!
Tina - Great idea, Tenni!
Tenni - i usually let them type later in the year
Need2Teach - I only have 5 weeks though, so they won't give me anything
Tenni - thanks Tina
readingteach - I also get multiple copies of books by going to readingAtoZ.com and copying books. I have a subscription, but there are free books.
Need2Teach - the libraries in my area don't have enough of grade level, and below grade level selections to fit my themes for the summer
mudbug - do you think it's worth the money to have a subscription for these books
Tina - I wondered the same, mudbug. It seems we have a hard time using what we have but the AtoZ books are cool.
Tenni - we've also rewritten some our favorite books and made our "own'' version for the kids to read. We did this with A House for Hermit Crab and it worked out great
mudbug - i need to go on that site and check it out
readingteach - I just have a 6 month subscription and it has been worth it to have the leveled books. Also, my students have their own books to take home, which is a big plus.
Tenni - have you used the materials from starfall.com
mudbug - we have so many leveled books that go along with our reading program
emma - I type so that the publishing moves faster
emma - But I let the kids draw their own pictures to go with their text.
Tina - I'm with you Emma. Also, students write on lined pages.
Tina - Tenni, what's on starfall.com?
amy(K) - i am just now looking at readingatoz...i had never seen it or heard about it and it looks great!
Tina - mudbug-what series do you have?
mudbug - I got 150 books for my whole K grade level along with pencils and take home booklets. Really awesome they were from starfall.com
milymo - Hi everyone!
readingteach - I am a Title I Reading Teacher, so I don't have the regular source of a reading series. Also I add pages at the end of the book that children continue the pattern of the book and create their own pages. This is flexible enough for my situation.
Tenni - They have some nice stories centered around the vowels and vowel patterns. The kids can read it and it will sound out the words for them online, plus they provide books and writing journals free to school and classes
mudbug - We use the Wright Group Reading series
emma - On the chatboard, one teacher was very put down about typing the kid's stories, but if deb smith does it , I feel its got to be ok
mudbug - hi milymo
milymo - I used the starfall books this year. I thought that they were really good.
mudbug - The second book that starfall gives out is sort of like a journal
mudbug - They give topics for the kids to write about
emma - Hi milymo
milymo - I think I will order those to start out with my second graders.
mudbug - I have enough to use again this year. They are very generous with the books
mudbug - they give you as many as you want
emma - Gotta check on my dinner! Will return.
mudbug - milymo, where are you from?
milymo - It's amazing that they can do all that for free!
milymo - I am from Ohio.
mudbug - i'm from LOUISIANA
milymo - brb - need to bring my dog in.
Tenni - does anyone do anything different with the student's names at the beg. of the year other than king/queen
mudbug - Starfall also gives out the certificates with some really big gold foil stars. The kids loved them
amy(K) - my school has many leveled readers for the kids and that has helped alot with the teachers not having to find their own
mudbug - what is king/queen??
readingteach - What grade level is starfall targeted for?
mudbug - amy, what reading series do you use
mudbug - I would say starfall is more for 1st grade
Tina - mudbug-am i reading it right? Is Starfall free?
amy(K) - well, i am a new teacher so honestly, i can't remember...but, they have a storage closet full of leveled readers for all grades
amy(K) - what grade is the king and queen for?
Tenni - the leveled readers that came with our series are junk
Tenni - we do king/queen in first but our k teachers do it too
mudbug - yes, starfall is free, free, free
milymo - I'm back.
amy(K) - you don't pay anything for starfall then???
mudbug - what is king/queen
mudbug - you're right amy
mudbug - get on starfall.com They will give you as many as you like
milymo - I think the second journal would be a good review for students just starting second grade. Especially since first grade did not use them last year.
Tina - I'll bet I didn't use even a third of our leveled readers. Kind of a waste but they came with the program.
milymo - (Starfall)
mudbug - hi lin
Tenni - it's what we do with student names at the beg. of year - we interview them and write a story, make puzzles of the names, and everyone makes a page for a storybook just for the child
amy(K) - are the starfall materials good, mudbug?
lin - Where do I find information on starfall
milymo - What series do you have Tina?
amy(K) - do you pick a queen and king on the same day or a queen for one week and a king the next?
Tenni - we draw a name from a basket each day
amy(K) - tenni, i love the king/queen idea! I might try to incorporate that in my K class next year...
milymo - www.starfall.com
lin - Wow, this chat room is neat. first time to participate
mudbug - the first is a workbook going over the sounds, the second is sort of like a journal giving topics to write about and then they give colored cut-out books (around 8) to cut and staple I sent those home for the summer
Tenni - i like it too amy, it's just that after 5 years i'm kind of tired of it, i need to do something different
milymo - http://www.starfall.com
mudbug - lin, just go to starfall.com
amy(K) - what will you do instead of king/queen now tenni?
mudbug - like I said I ordered 150 (for my whole grade level) and they sent it to me. The others were so excited
milymo - I love this place lin! Of course, I haven't been to a 4 blocks chat in over a year. I'm coming back to teach second grade this year.
Tina - We have SF, which I have liked but, as with any series, I feel bad that I waste so much of the seatwork.
mudbug - where are you from lin?
lin - It sounds interesting. I have 2nd grade and the kiddos coming in next fall are low, low, most functioning at the late k, early 1st level. anyone have ideas of where to get materials as our 1st grades will be using theirs with the 1st
lin - I'm from western Michigan. Love the area-about 30 min. from lake MI
Tenni - amy, i don't know yet, i'm looking for inspiration
milymo - garage sales, goodwill, library discards...
milymo - abcteach.com has leveled readers... were you talking about that site right before I came in?
amy(K) - i have bought over 300 hardback books from bookstores all $3 or less
Tenni - tina, we have SF too, they have good reading selections in some of them - i'm looking forward to cutting them up into skinny books
amy(K) - and i have about 20 of the same books, too
mudbug - i don't know what you mean when you say our 1st grades will be using theirs with the 1st
mudbug - we got rid of all of our basels and some teachers are cutting those up for small booklets
emma - I went crazy at Bookcloseouts.com and got Hello Readers at different levels and sooo many genres.
lin - I love 2nd, this will be my 5th year. I've taught 1st-years ago, 3rd, 4th and 6th. So far 2nd is it!! The first grade teachers will use the 1st grade books as their incoming classes are doing very well. The only materials we have are basels and books we buy ourselves.
milymo - Send home book orders and use your points to get free books. I really built up my library that way.
mudbug - at pretty good prices emma??
Tina - Would my principal CROAK if I cut up even one of our beloved basals!!!!
Tenni - i like the new scholastic science readers - great nonfiction
lin - not if he didn't know it!
mudbug - our parish (county) hates basals!!!
mudbug - we're into the balanced literacy programs
Tenni - LOL Tina, mine too, but we're adopting new books after this year
lin - what are the scholastic science readers?
emma - Oh man, mudbug! They're having a sale right now ..10 for 10.00, 15 for 15.00 etc.
Tina - My district knows nothing but basals. Errrrr....until I came along!
lin - Are the scholastic readers leveled, or magazines????
mudbug - I can't believe that Tina--I thought Louisiana was sooooo behind!!!
Tenni - lin, they have them in the book orders, I've used the level one about mid year first grade and it was challenging but not too difficult, my parents donated multiple copies
mudbug - that is such a good idea about asking parents to donate "the book of the month"
Tina - lin....you may be a bad influence!
Tenni - thanks, i've really increased my multiple copies that way
mudbug - can't wait to try that idea--my parents are pretty generous
emma - Basals aren't so bad if you just use the stories for GR and skip all the other junk they put in their for you to teach
mudbug - yea, i guess so
lin - has anyone tried phonographix? I've been reading about it on some of the boards and plan to read up on it. I don't believe in doing anything wantonly but I believe if there are materials laying around and there are no intentions of using them again, put them to use any way you can. Unfortunately, there's not much in 1st grade materials laying around the book storeroom.
milymo - emma, that's what I did last year when I taught second.
mudbug - what exactly is that
lin - Before AR, I cut apart old basals, stapled the stories into a folder-one per folder, wrote 5 questions and every morning the kids would begin the day reading one. They loved it!
emma - As a new teacher many moons ago, I thought the basals were a helpful guide.
Tenni - has anyone tried using some strategies from reading with meaning within the four blocks
emma - Phonographix.... yuck!!
mudbug - yes, I have--really good
mudbug - what is phonographix!!!
emma - Great idea lin!
emma - It's EXTREME phonics, mudbug.
Tenni - mudbug, did you use them in GR or SSR?
lin - phonographix is a program that teaches that sounds are made with "pictures" of letters. So children don't learn that p says puh, they learn p is a picture of puh, while ph is a picture of (f)-don't know how to spell that sound!
mudbug - SSR
Tenni - that's what i was thinking too. what were some first lessons you used
Tina - Does anyone use Scholastic Reading Counts instead of AR?
mudbug - i used the balanced literacy program which is really similar to the four blocks--really simple cuz I teach kindergarten
mudbug - no tina, our school uses AR
lin - glad to hear some people don't like it-both sides of the issue makes one think. We plan to use our basels this year with GR-mostly reading TO the children. We have Macmillian. It is such a challenge even in a good year. Some of the stories are 25 pages long.
milymo - We use AR as well.
Tina - I'm struggling with the "store" we have for points earned.
mudbug - sounds like you teach at least 2nd or 3rd grad lin
Tenni - has anyone found AR has made your kids TOO competitive and focused on the reading for the wrong reason? I have kids that won't pick up a book unless it's worth points!
mudbug - our school gives out t-shirts and an end of the year limo ride to a pizza place if all the goals are accomplished. It's competative but hey if it get the kids to read--shy not!!
mudbug - not shy not--why n ot (typo)
Tenni - we don't even do a "store" anymore tina, we switched to giving medals for meeting 100% of your goal 3 times, ribbons for the top 3 in each class, and trophies to the top ten in the school
lin - We Have AR, but it is on the server for the district and they had such problems with viruses we couldn't access it until mid FEB. Yes, I teach 2nd We do AR but don't reward. We assign a goal for each marking period and encourage the children to read both AR and other books. When we gave incentives, we found the kids WERE too competitive.
mudbug - do you require your kids to reach their goal for a grade?
emma - Tenni, exactly the reason 4 Blocks doesn't endorse AR
Tenni - most of my first graders aren't really ready for AR until Jan. but we have to start them in Aug.
milymo - We have not given prizes either. Many teachers in our school don't even use it.
mudbug - my son is in 6th grade and his teacher gives out grades according to how many points are made
Tenni - we don't give a grade, but our principal did ask us to put their percent on their progress report
milymo - I need to get going! Goodnight everyone!
emma - My son in 6th started hating reading because of his teacher's emphasis on AR and he's a good reader.
Tenni - emma, i can't convince the important people in my school of that, they're pushing to be an AR master school next year. UGH!
mudbug - it's so hard to keep up with the daily required reading for his subjects much less have to read AR books--really stressful
emma - Amen, mudbug!
Tenni - not to mention, that AR doesn't encourage reading for enjoyment
mudbug - i'm thinking about getting together with the other grade level teachers and coming up with lesson plans for the whole year. have any of you attempted to write lesson plans for the whole year??
lin - You'll love this-we don't give "grades". The grades are * exceeds, meets expectations, check- needs additional help, or - not yet
Tenni - that's better than us, we write narrative reports about each child - parents don't understand it
Tina - I have "Super Tester" badges that they get on the honor system as they pass tests. Leaving the store with a sticker versus the giant TY beanie stuffed animal. What a bummer/
lin - that was meets expectations
emma - I've heard AR asks mostly literal questions so it only skims the surface of comprehension. I don't like that a bit.
Tina - Golly Tenni. HOw much time does each report take?
Tenni - oh, i spend about 30 - 40 mins. on each one, and we have to do a mid-term report too, plus we aren't allowed to send them home, parents must come pick them up at conferences every 4 weeks
lin - That's true about AR. I have encouraged staff to group read Strategies that Work. I love the ideas it presents and was so excited when I taught the kiddos to make connections and they did it!
mudbug - hey kelly--the cajunkicker
cajunkicker - hey girls this is my first time here, how does this work??
mudbug - you don't even teach yet cajun kicker--why would you want to know
emma - Tenni, that is ridiculous to have to do that!
Tenni - we've been saying that, but administrators don't listen
lin - Tenni, I can't believe you have to do that every 4 weeks. AND that parents pick them up. I average about 11 out of 18 parents coming for conferences. where do you teach?
lin - We do have hope as the district is looking into redo report cards. Guess they are finally using up the last printing.
Tenni - i teach in KY - i see almost all my parents at the first and last conference but I average about 6 all the other times - the same six i see every morning when they drop their kids off ...lol
emma - Oh, you've got some helicopter parents, Tenni ?
Tenni -
lin - Isn't that the way- we usually don't need to see the parents who come. It's the ones that don'f come that we need to see.
Tenni - this past year, I had 4 parents I never met
lin - What other materials besides basals do you use in your rooms
Tina - As if you didn't think OK was backward enough--we give % grades. S =98% S=85% P=70% and N=below 70. Ridiculous! I think larger districts are more progressive.
Tenni - what do you grade tina?
lin - I HAVE to ask -what are helicopter parents and HOW do you do that face
Tenni - lin, i use a lot of trade books, poems, even the science and social studies books as GR material
Tina - I use a rubric for oral reading, grade the on-level selection tests. Some of my co-workers have whole gradebooks full of grades. I guess they take grades on all those workbook pages that I try to trash discreetly!
Tenni - that's crazy!
Tina - Also, I don't put the actual % on the report card as others do. Then if questioned, I'm there to defend my creative changes in the grades!
Tenni - i hate doing rubrics for open response questions let alone oral reading
Tenni - good move!
lin - I have been typing songs and poems to make into reading books for the beginning of the year. the kids love them and once they have learned them should enjoy rereading them from time to time. I bought a lot of scholastic book sets from the book orders this year. I bought the $200 worth on the first order and got the 4000 bonus points. I love not doing workpages but having authentic discussion instead.
Tina - When I taught in Tulsa, it was totally a checklist. Conferencing was emphasized much more.
Tenni - i think my kids become better readers through discussion, i've been doing four block for five years and I love it
Tina - Our district does not have early childhood as a priority. Even staff development dollars are hard to get for any worthwhile conferences.
Tenni - i could have given you a lot of books lin, I cleaned out my book baskets this year
Tenni - i know the feeling, i'm paying my own way to the i teach 1st conference this year - i need some math pd
Tina - Tenni-when you cleaned out those book baskets, pray tell, what did you throw away?
Tenni - books that i hadn't used in the classroom in a few years, or things that i thought didn't have a good story line. i have two shelves full of books, some things had to go
Tina - Hi Debs!
deb2 -I didn't mean to log in twice!
deb2 - tenni, I used a lot of box it and bag it math from the math learning center. I made all the games and used them to reinforce what I was teaching
lin - this was my first year. I learned lots but got behind. I liked hearing about some of you getting together to do planning I plan to spend lots of time this summer reading and planning for fall. I 'm trying to get rid of some books this week too. Monday was our last day with kiddos and we are spending the rest of the week writing Arts curriculm. We're an arts magnet. While much of it is fun and does benefit the kids, it's hard to get everything in.
Tenni - i've made some of those too, can't say i used them much though
lin - Hello deb and Kenpj2
lin - OK deb, how do you get that smiling face to appear.
deb2 - in math, I taught a 20 minute problem solving lesson using Exemplars.com stuff; then I used 20 minutes of drill; then switched to games
Tina - lin-I would love to teach in an Arts magnet school!
Tenni - i would like your school lin, my area of concentration was multi disciplinary fine arts
deb2 - I just typed a colon then the mark above the zero and the machine made it happen
Tenni - sounds like a good idea, do you know anything about four block math
Tina -
lin - Parts of it are great but the hours and hours of meetings are not. We were required to do 50 hours professional development(district wide) usually from 4-6 pm, 2-3 times a month.
deb2 - I am a four blocks presenter (reading) with Cunningham and Hall but I don't know about four block math
lin -
deb2 -
deb2 - lin, ouch that is a lot
lin - My new learning of the day!
deb2 -
Tenni - i had heard about it deb, but i haven't seen anything on it, if it's as good as four block reading i'd try it
Tina - Is 4-Block Math an Urban Legend?
Tenni - since you are a presenter deb, any new ideas (other than king/queen) for working with kids names?
lin - In addition to our regular curr. we have one hour of art, 30 min of dance, 60 min of gym, 60 min of music, 30 min. of piano keyboarding, 30 min of computer 30 min of library. That's why I say, I would like more time to teach.
Tenni - I saw it on website, you could get pd about it? Don't remember the site though..sorry
deb2 - tina, yes it is an urban four blocks legend - not true
Tenni - my daughter would love your school lin.
Tina - Do you have to teach any of those specials, lin?
deb2 - tenni, do you know all the building block activities for names? We have the rounds, cutting up letters of the name, matching letters to the name (puzzles); tongue twisters; predictable charts; reading a book that is the same sound as the name
Tenni - i'm sorry, it is called four frame math, not four block math
Tenni - tina, www.ergsc.com will give a very brief overview of it
Tina - It would take alot more than 50 hours of pd for me to teach dance!
Tenni - yeah deb, i've done those for years, i was just looking for something different
lin - We do teach the computer and the library is just a story and book check out. We have a grant funding the dance teacher the piano lab is taught but we have to assist but the rest is done by other teachers to provide us with 30 min of plan time a day. The kids do enjoy it and we have fun too. But like I said it's all those extras! We also are committed to 3 evening events per semester.
lin - I hate giving up all that time when my kids need to read and learn to do math.
Tenni - well, it's storming here so i should go. it's been very nice talking to everyone.
lin - If any of you do readers theater, how many times per week/month and how many days do you spend on it?
Tina - tenni-looks good. I need to be more creative with my use of manipulatives. The time invested in getting stuff out and put away is a waste to me. I also know that I obsess about having "20 in the bag when you start and finish."
Tina - bye Tenni!
Tenni - i'm like that too tina. I hope we get to talk again.
lin - bye, I need to go too
Tenni - g'night all
Tina - I better go, too.
Tina - Bye all.
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